The role of arsenic in the operation of sulfur-based electrical threshold switches
Abstract Arsenic is an essential dopant in conventional silicon-based semiconductors and emerging phase-change memory (PCM), yet the detailed functional mechanism is still lacking in the latter. Here, we fabricate chalcogenide-based ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selectors, which are key units for...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41643-6 |
| _version_ | 1797558467192422400 |
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| author | Renjie Wu Rongchuan Gu Tamihiro Gotoh Zihao Zhao Yuting Sun Shujing Jia Xiangshui Miao Stephen R. Elliott Min Zhu Ming Xu Zhitang Song |
| author_facet | Renjie Wu Rongchuan Gu Tamihiro Gotoh Zihao Zhao Yuting Sun Shujing Jia Xiangshui Miao Stephen R. Elliott Min Zhu Ming Xu Zhitang Song |
| author_sort | Renjie Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Arsenic is an essential dopant in conventional silicon-based semiconductors and emerging phase-change memory (PCM), yet the detailed functional mechanism is still lacking in the latter. Here, we fabricate chalcogenide-based ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selectors, which are key units for suppressing sneak currents in 3D PCM arrays, with various As concentrations. We discovered that incorporation of As into GeS brings >100 °C increase in crystallization temperature, remarkably improving the switching repeatability and prolonging the device lifetime. These benefits arise from strengthened As-S bonds and sluggish atomic migration after As incorporation, which reduces the leakage current by more than an order of magnitude and significantly suppresses the operational voltage drift, ultimately enabling a back-end-of-line-compatible OTS selector with >12 MA/cm2 on-current, ~10 ns speed, and a lifetime approaching 1010 cycles after 450 °C annealing. These findings allow the precise performance control of GeSAs-based OTS materials for high-density 3D PCM applications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:31:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9ef2f81c22e4421989d858092cdf4558 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:31:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-9ef2f81c22e4421989d858092cdf45582023-11-20T10:00:31ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-09-0114111010.1038/s41467-023-41643-6The role of arsenic in the operation of sulfur-based electrical threshold switchesRenjie Wu0Rongchuan Gu1Tamihiro Gotoh2Zihao Zhao3Yuting Sun4Shujing Jia5Xiangshui Miao6Stephen R. Elliott7Min Zhu8Ming Xu9Zhitang Song10National Key Laboratory of Materials for Integrated Circuits, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesWuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Integrated Circuits, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyDepartment of Physics, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Gunma UniversityNational Key Laboratory of Materials for Integrated Circuits, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesNational Key Laboratory of Materials for Integrated Circuits, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesFrontier Institute of Chip and System, Fudan UniversityWuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Integrated Circuits, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyTrinity College, University of CambridgeNational Key Laboratory of Materials for Integrated Circuits, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesWuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Integrated Circuits, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyNational Key Laboratory of Materials for Integrated Circuits, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract Arsenic is an essential dopant in conventional silicon-based semiconductors and emerging phase-change memory (PCM), yet the detailed functional mechanism is still lacking in the latter. Here, we fabricate chalcogenide-based ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selectors, which are key units for suppressing sneak currents in 3D PCM arrays, with various As concentrations. We discovered that incorporation of As into GeS brings >100 °C increase in crystallization temperature, remarkably improving the switching repeatability and prolonging the device lifetime. These benefits arise from strengthened As-S bonds and sluggish atomic migration after As incorporation, which reduces the leakage current by more than an order of magnitude and significantly suppresses the operational voltage drift, ultimately enabling a back-end-of-line-compatible OTS selector with >12 MA/cm2 on-current, ~10 ns speed, and a lifetime approaching 1010 cycles after 450 °C annealing. These findings allow the precise performance control of GeSAs-based OTS materials for high-density 3D PCM applications.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41643-6 |
| spellingShingle | Renjie Wu Rongchuan Gu Tamihiro Gotoh Zihao Zhao Yuting Sun Shujing Jia Xiangshui Miao Stephen R. Elliott Min Zhu Ming Xu Zhitang Song The role of arsenic in the operation of sulfur-based electrical threshold switches Nature Communications |
| title | The role of arsenic in the operation of sulfur-based electrical threshold switches |
| title_full | The role of arsenic in the operation of sulfur-based electrical threshold switches |
| title_fullStr | The role of arsenic in the operation of sulfur-based electrical threshold switches |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of arsenic in the operation of sulfur-based electrical threshold switches |
| title_short | The role of arsenic in the operation of sulfur-based electrical threshold switches |
| title_sort | role of arsenic in the operation of sulfur based electrical threshold switches |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41643-6 |
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